Insight
by Misora Kujiku Shiraiwa
Summary: A bleach fan fiction about Kenpachi's love life.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own bleach or any of the wonderful characters from it. That would be tite kubo. I do own Taroru and Ryuuka.

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**_Introduction:_**

"Oh boy... Today is my big day..." 28-year-old Ryuuka Shisona said to herself as she paced nervously around the guest house. Her long white train and shoulder-length lavender hair followed behind her, and her while veil covered her tanned skin. Her bright green eyes shifted around nervously. She had been waiting for this day for a long time, and now that it was here, she couldn't be more anxious for it to get over with. Suddenly, a knock came on the door. Turning quickly, Ryuuka realized that the time had come. She took a deep breath, walked to the door, and peeked outside. Standing there, in a suit of black and hair slicked back, was her little brother, Taroru, smiling to her. He took her hand.

"Ne... are you ready, Onee-chan?" he asked her. Ryuuka returned the smile politely and nodded. With that, she stepped out to Taroru and walked with him all the way to the outdoor patio, where the wedding would take place.

The patio was brilliantly decorated, with white lights hanging from the archway where the groom and his bride would stand and banners placed everywhere. There were seven rows of chairs, five seats to each. As Taroru led her to the hall and turned around the corner, leaving her, Ryuuka peeked out and could see that her soon-to-be husband was already standing at the alter dressed handsomely in his white suit and red bow tie. He was the only one out of all the men that was wearing a white suit. He had picked it out himself and it went good with his hair. His long black hair had been combed and flowed onto his back like a river of black waves as he looked out onto the sea. "He is so handsome...especially with his hair down like that and no bells..." Ryuuka thought as she leaned back against the wall, but not without straying another look at him. He turned and caught a glimpse of her as she quickly ducked back. He just smiled and turned back to the waves of the ocean, his long hair billowing in the wind.

Zaraki Kenpachi never thought that he would see the day that he would be getting married, especially to one of his own squad. He chuckled to himself as he remembered how he had first developed feelings for her...

_**Chapter One:**_

It was a sunny day in the Seireitei; the eleventh company hallways were completely empty except for one woman, Ryuuka Shisona, fourth seat. She was diligently working on projects that had been assigned to other company members that they had not finished. Kenpachi saw her doing this and grinned his usual Kenpachi grin, walking up to her. Ryuuka was too preoccupied to notice him until she turned around, running right into him. Slowly, she looked up at him and blushed.

"Eh... gomen nasai, Kenpachi-taicho..." Kenpachi just grinned again and looked at her.

"Eh, it happens, Shisona-san," he told her, to which she relaxed slightly. He saw the paperwork she was working on and chuckled. "You don't want to overwork yourself, Shisona-san. Ne, why not go outside and catch some sun before it goes away?" he suggested. Ryuuka looked down and sighed.

"Iie, I can't do that, Taicho. There's so much that's not done, and some of it is due to Soutaicho by tomorrow... I can't go relax and have a good time when there's so much undone!" Quickly, she ran around, gathering papers and shuffling off to her room to finish them. Kenpachi chuckled again.

"Yare yare, such a strange woman..." he said to himself. As he turned to go outside, he heard a strange noise from Ryuuka's room. Grinning and thinking that Ryuuka fell like she usually did, he started to walk again. However, the sound came again, only louder. This time he stopped completely and turned, the grin gone from his face. He heard someone coming in and yelled to them to stay out. The member looked at him, confused, but shrugged and went back outside. Slowly, Kenpachi drew his zanpakuto from the sheath and walked toward the room. The sounds he was hearing weren't from Ryuuka. No, they sounded more hollow-like than soul reaper. As he peered into the room, he saw Ryuuka on the floor, a hollow standing over her.

Looking around the room, Kenpachi noticed that Ryuuka's sword, Ryuuzuto Hoshi, was still in the sheath, meaning that she hadn't used it. Looking up at the hollow, Kenpachi noticed a sickly sweet smell that quickly filled the room. He immediately covered his face; he could only guess that the hollow had used some kind of airborne poison to weaken Ryuuka, and then pounce on her when she was either dead or asleep. He found himself hoping badly that Ryuuka wasn't dead. With one quick motion, he dashed at the hollow, slicing it from head to toe. The hollow screamed in pain, then vanished before his eyes. Still covering his mouth and nose, Kenpachi put his sword away and rushed over to Ryuuka, picking her up and shunpoing her to fourth company.

Yachiru, his vice captain, had been outside playing when saw this and rushed inside, changed into her soul reaper uniform and following behind him secretly. She noticed that the person he was carrying was Ryuuka, sixth seat officer. Yachiru looked at the two of them, confused and worried. She and Ryuuka were the best of friends, so Yachiru was worried when she saw Kenpachi rushing off with her in urgency. She decided to follow them to the fourth company. She would ask Ken-chan about it later.

Unohana was sitting quietly at her desk while her vice captain finished up with the other patients, when she noticed something in the distance. She looked closer and saw that it was Kenpachi, carrying someone on his back. She immediately opened up the door just as he shunpoed into the division. He was quickly set her down on a stretcher.

"What happened to her, Zaraki-san?" she asked calmly as she took Ryuuka into one of the rooms. Kenpachi followed.

"A hollow, that's what happened. It came from nowhere and let out a poison, making her fall into a deep sleep, or at least I hope it was a deep sleep..." At this, Unohana smiled playfully.

"Good to see that you actually care about someone in your squad other than Yachiru-chan, ne..." she joked and chuckled, but stopped as she saw the look on Kenpachi's face, which was one of concern and worry. She had never seen that look on his face before and figured that this was more serious than he let on about. She turned to Ryuuka and started to check her pulse and blood pressure, and noticed that Kenpachi still was watching her anxiously, which was making her nervous. Unohana turned to him.

"Please go wait out there, Zaraki-san. I'll be done with her soon." Kenpachi nodded to her, looked at Ryuuka one more time, then exited. Unohana turned back to Ryuuka and continued checking her.

Kenpachi was as confused as he was nervous. He kept thinking to himself that he was worrying too much and that he usually never worried about anyone as much as he was anxiously awaiting the outcome of Ryuuka's tests.

"What's wrong with me?" he wondered to himself. He then noticed that someone had been following him: Yachiru Kusajishi, his vice captain. He turned to her and grinned again, though it wasn't as big as normal, and it seemed that Yachiru noticed. She walked up to him, her sword strapped to her back.

"Ken-chan?" she said softly, "What's wrong with Brownie-chan?" 'Brownie' was Yachiru's nickname for Ryuuka because of Ryuuka's skin color. Kenpachi looked down.

"A hollow got her, I'm afraid," he replied. Yachiru noticed the sadness in his voice and started to get worried, not only for Ryuuka, but for her captain as well. He had never gotten this emotional for anyone other than herself before. It was strange and peculiar, but she smiled anyway.

"Ne, I'll wait with you, Ken-chan," she said, to which Kenpachi looked at her, "I want to know if she's okay, too." Kenpachi smiled at her. She was always so bubbly and happy. Sometimes, I wish I were that happy, he thought to himself.

After about an hour of waiting and pacing impatiently, Kenpachi and Yachiru heard the door open and saw Unohana step out. They looked at her anxiously. Unohana smiled to them and Kenpachi felt himself relax a bit.

"So?" he asked simply. Unohana nodded to him, indicating that Ryuuka would live. Kenpachi let out a deep sigh of relief. He wasn't going to lose one of his squad to a poison-secreting hollow. Unohana looked at him.

"Now, as for that poison," she started, Kenpachi turning to her, "It was a strange mixture. I'm sending it to Kurosuchi-taicho of twelfth division right now, but I have a feeling that there are more than one of those kinds of hollows out there. Do you know how it got into her room?" Kenpachi looked at the ground, thinking. He then looked up at her again.

"It must have been hiding in her room, waiting for her. Then, when she had her back turned, it sprung on her." He shook his head in disbelief. How could a hollow like that come into his division under the wire. The security was always packed and his ability to uncover masked reiatsu was extraordinary. He just shook his head again and looked at the now relaxed Unohana. She looked at him and smiled.

"You may go in and check on her if you'd like, Zaraki-san," she said softly, returning to her desk just as another injured soul reaper entered. Usually, Kenpachi would grin and say something snappy to the injured one, but this case was different. Yachiru smiled and started talking to the injured shinigami as Kenpachi slipped quietly into the room.

Ryuuka was sleeping soundly on the bed as Kenpachi walked in. The room smelled of the sickly sweet poison that had been there before, but Kenpachi saw that it was coming from Ryuuka herself. He could see the streams of purple gases flowing through a filter, making the air easier for Ryuuka to breathe. He slowly walked up to her and saw her in full profile. Her lavender hair framed her tanned face and her bright emerald eyes were closed. He had never seen a woman up close before, especially someone like her, and he could see that she was indeed beautiful. Kenpachi pulled up a chair next to Ryuuka's bed and sat down, sighing and putting his head in his hands. "Today has been a strange and peculiar day," he thought.

Just then, Ryuuka opened her eyes. She looked around the room and her gaze fell on Kenpachi sitting next to her, his head in his hands. She looked at him, puzzled. In all the months that she had worked with him, she had never seen him in such a state of grief before. She turned to look at the air filter placed next to her bed, then back at Kenpachi, who was looking at the ceiling. She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, to which he turned quickly and looked at her, sighing.

"Good to see that you're awake, Shisona-san," he said, grinning at her. Ryuuka smiled back.

"Thanks to you, Taicho." Kenpachi shrugged.

"It was nothing, really."

"Not to me, it wasn't nothing." Ryuuka laid her head back on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Kenpachi got a good look at her vivid green eyes. They were the color of the ocean at dawn. He found himself wanting to comfort her more, but knew that he had work to do, the work that she had left unfinished. He just grinned and stood up, turning to her.

"Well, time to go finish some undone work," he said, winking at her as he turned to him, to which she smiled shyly back at him as he added, "You get better soon, got it? I want to see you working hard on my squad for another day." Ryuuka blushed slightly.

"H-Hai, Taicho," she replied shyly. He then left the room. Ryuuka looked at him curiously, but noticed Yachiru coming in to say hello, taking her mind off of his behavior.

Kenpachi walked through the Gotei 13, thinking about how he had acted. Surely the whole place would know by the end of the day about Ryuuka's accidental run-in with a hollow. Since so many companies went in and out of the fourth company and Yachiru usually blabbed about everything she saw, it was bound to happen. Kenpachi had never been this worried about someone since he had found Yachiru. He also hadn't been this worried about his composure before. He usually did his thing and didn't care what others thought. However, since his meeting with Ryuuka, things had felt and been different in and around the division. She was the only woman in eleventh company other than Yachiru. Kenpachi shook his head again. I'll never understand women, I guess, he thought to himself as he continued to eleventh company headquarters.

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Thanks for reading.^^ here are some translations:

"ne" is a word used at the end or beginning, meaning "right?" or "so,"

"Hai" means yes

"Iie" means no

"shinigami" means death god (literally, but in the english anime, the term is soul reaper)

"Taicho" means captain, as in captain of a squad.

"Yare, yare" means "jeez" or something along those lines; an expression

"-san" is an honorific suffix for most any name.

"-chan" is a suffix mostly for close friends.

"zanpakuto" is a soul reaper's weapon of choice. Their swords pretty much.

"reiatsu" is spirit energy.

"onee-chan" means older sister here.

There you are, there's more to come for sure.^^


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, that would be the infamous Tite Kubo. I do own Ryuuka and her ZP, Ryuuzuto Hoshi.

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__Chapter Two:_**

The eleventh company was a buzz when they found out that Ryuuka had been attacked by a hollow. They were all talking about it as Kenpachi entered the headquarters. It suddenly fell quiet as he walked through to Ryuuka's room, gathered the paper work, and walked to the captain's quarters. The members of eleventh company looked at each other in disbelief. Was their captain actually doing paperwork? That wasn't like him at all. Ikkaku, third seat officer, and Yumichika, fifth seat officer, were the first ones to ask Kenpachi about what happened.

"I told you once and I'll tell you again, don't ask me. You probably already know what happened anyway. Yachiru must have told you, so leave me alone and let me finish what I'm doing," Kenpachi spat at them. Ikkaku walked to his desk.

"Please, we only want to know the _real_ story, what _really_ happened. You were there, Taicho, so you know better than Yachiru or anyone else here," he explained to Kenpachi. Yumichika sighed.

"Come on, Madarame-san. If Kenpachi-taicho doesn't want to give us the details of the incident, then we shouldn't bother him about it," he said, turning to the door. Ikkaku sighed heavily out of impatience and followed Yumichika out. Kenpachi was glad to be rid of the two of them; they could get annoying at times. He focused on the work at hand and continued to finish it.

On his way back to Ryuuka's room that night, he noticed Yachiru staring out the window. He walked up to her silently.

"Ken-chan," she said without looking. Kenpachi looked at her.

"What is it, Yachiru-chan?" She looked out the window a little longer, holding her knees to her chest.

"What's it like?" she asked, turning to him, "Being strong like you and being able to not cry when bad things happen to people or when you get hurt. I want to know." Kenpachi stared at his little vice. She had never asked a question like that before.

"I... guess it's just really..." He looked up at her and grinned, "Really boring sometimes, and sometimes it can get lonely, being so strong that people are scared of you." Yachiru smiled at him and stood up.

"I'm going to see Brownie-chan. Want to come?" Kenpachi shook his head and smiled at her.

"Nah, I'll go tomorrow. I'll get her zanpakuto and give it to her." Yachiru looked at him.

"Want me to do it?" Kenpachi smiled and again shook his head.

"Nah, I'll get it. You run off now." Yachiru smiled and nodded, then shunpoed off to the fourth division. Kenpachi smiled, then walked to Ryuuka's room, grabbed Ryuuzuto Hoshi, walked back to the captain's quarters, and went to sleep, the most sleep he had had in a long time.

The next day, Kenpachi woke up early and paid a visit to first company to give Yamamoto-soutaicho the work he had done. Yamamoto was surprised to see Kenpachi at the door, for he had only been wondering two minutes ago whether he would remember to send a company member with the paperwork. Yet, here was Zaraki Kenpachi himself. Yamamoto smiled.

"Well, isn't this a surprise," he said, taking the papers from Kenpachi, "Please, come in and have some tea." Kenpachi shook his head politely.

"Gomen nasai, Soutaicho, I'd be more than happy to at another time, but I have to check on something this morning." Yamamoto smiled at him again.

"It's that female of your company, is it not?" he asked. Kenpachi grinned and nodded. Smiling, Yamamoto nodded as well and said, "Well, off you go then, Kenpachi-taicho, and thank you again for remembering." Kenpachi looked down.

"It was Shisona-san that remembered. It was what got her in fourth company in the first place," he stated. Yamamoto smiled at him again.

"Well, at least you did the right thing, Zaraki-san," he told Kenpachi, to which he nodded and smiled. Yamamoto then nodded to him, "Now, off you go. Enjoy your day, or at least try to, anyway." With that, he closed the door on him. Kenpachi turned and shunpoed off to fourth company.

Unohana was again sitting at her desk when Kenpachi decided to drop by and check on Ryuuka. Unohana smiled at him.

"She's up and about if you want to talk to her," she said, pointing to a room where Kenpachi saw Ryuuka eating. Her hair was tied up in its usual half ponytail and her dark forehead was bandaged, at which Kenpachi looked curiously. He noticed that her arms were bandaged as well. He turned to Unohana.

"What happened to her arms and head, Unohana-san?" he asked. Unohana looked at Ryuuka, then at Kenpachi.

"Well, I found out upon closer examination of her person that the hollow had indeed injured her," she started, while he turned to Ryuuka, "He had grabbed her arms from behind and slammed her into the wall, knocking her unconscious." Kenpachi turned back to and looked at her in puzzlement as she picked up a paper on her desk and added, "I also got the test results back for that poison that I sent to twelfth company." She handed it to him. Kenpachi took the paper and looked at it closely, then back at Unohana.

"And?"he asked impatiently. He didn't understand chemistry very much and didn't care for it, until today.

"That poison was supposed to kill her, Zaraki-san." Kenpachi stared at the paper, then looked up at Unohana, shocked. Unohana smiled at him and continued, "So it was a good thing that you got her to me when you did. She would have died within three hours." Kenpachi handed her back the lab result and looked at Ryuuka again. He had almost lost one of his female officers. There was now fire in his eyes. It was then that he decided that he wasn't going to let Ryuuka out of his sites for one minute. He would protect her with his life.

Just as soon as he thought it, he questioned why he had. It wasn't like him to protect anyone other than himself and his squad members from hollows, but this... This was something completely different. He was protecting someone who meant something to him, and this had never happened to him before. He didn't know what he was feeling. He looked up at Ryuuka, who had finished eating and was staring out the window. He grinned his usual grin and started to walk up to her. However, before he took one step, Jushiro Ukitake, captain of thirteenth company, stepped up to him.

"Ohaiyo, Zaraki-san," he said cheerfully. Kenpachi grinned at him.

"Well, nice to see you, too, Ukitake-san. What are you doing here?" he asked. Ukitake smiled at him.

"I came to say hello to your female officer that seems to have gotten injured yesterday," he replied happily, to which Kenpachi just looked at him. They both turned and walked into her room.

Ryuuka turned as she heard two people walk in. She wasn't surprised to see Ukitake-taicho from thirteenth company, however she was surprised to see her captain again. Usually he wouldn't visit more than once if an officer was hurt. She smiled at the both of them anyway.

"Konnichi wa, Zaraki-taicho, Ukitake-taicho," she said, bowing her head to them. Ukitake smiled at her.

"Konnichi wa, Shisona-san. Nice to see that you're up and about finally," he replied, to which Ryuuka smiled shyly.

"Hai, hai..." Kenpachi looked at Ukitake, then looked out the window. Ryuuka noticed that he was fidgeting and smiled. Ukitake nodded to her and smiled.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure that you were alright, and you are, so I will take my leave. Sayonara for now," and with that, he left the room. Kenpachi watched as he left, and as soon as Ukitake was gone, he pulled up at chair next to Ryuuka's bed. Ryuuka looked at him, puzzled.

"Taicho?" Kenpachi looked out the window. He was thinking about what to say now that he was alone with her. Ryuuka just continued to looks at him, then out the window, and finally down at the food she hadn't finished. Kenpachi noticed and grinned.

"Well, Miss I-have-to-finish-everything-before-tomorrow, who doesn't even finish her food." Ryuuka blushed and frowned.

"That's what almost got me killed, you know," she stated flatly. Kenpachi looked down. He knew, all right. He was the one that had saved her. Ryuuka looked back up at him and smiled shyly. "And for that, I thank you, Taicho." Kenpachi looked out the window again.

"Feh, that's what a taicho does for his squad members. It's natural, almost instinctive, animalistic even." Ryuuka looked down. She had thought that her captain might have had a change of heart, but he had save her out of instinct. Kenpachi then remembered why he had wanted to visit in the first place. He reached to his side, grabbed Ryuuzuto Hoshi and handed it to Ryuuka. She looks at him and stared as he handed her the sword. She then turned to him.

"Zaraki-taicho..." Kenpachi looked at her.

"It's yours, isn't it?" he asked, to which Ryuuka smiled and nodded, "Then I think it would be best if you kept it on you from now on. Also, no more overdoing work that others are supposed to be doing. Yesterday was an accident. I don't want a repeat of it today." With that, he stood and walked to the door. Ryuuka looked at him.

"Wait, Taicho!" she exclaimed. Kenpachi turned to look at her and grinned.

"You better not let some weak ass hollow attack you again, or your ass with be mine the next time you see me, got it? Back to work on Monday, Shisona-san!" After that, he exited. Ryuuka wasn't sure whether he was kidding around or serious. It was hard to tell, which meant that Kenpachi was his old self again. Ryuuka sighed. More work, she thought to herself. Looking at her sword, she smiled, laid Ryuuzuto Hoshi down, and laid down on the bed, falling asleep.

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Thanks again for reading. Hope you enjoy.^^


	3. Chapter 3

_Misora:_ Hey there guys! It's me again! Sorry for the wait, I was still writing this. .

I wanted to thank my readers for waiting for the third chapter:

**Kia Ukitake Sohma, logan,** and **FrankenXana**

Here we go, the DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach the Anime or the Manga. That would be the ever famous Tite Kubo.

And, the CLAIMER: I do own Ryuuka and her zanpakuto, Ryuuzuto Hoshi.

Enjoy! ^_^

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_**Chapter Three:**_

Since those two days, Kenpachi didn't feel like himself. He had found himself worrying about Ryuuka all the time. It was getting hard for him to work when he couldn't stop thinking about how the outcome could have been different. Even Yachiru told him that he worried too much, and she usually was right about things like that. As Kenpachi watched his squad over the next few days, he realized just how much he needed them, and how much they needed him.

One day, as he was sitting on the roof of the division, another captain, Toushiro Hitsugaiya, suddenly appeared next to him and sat down.

"Zaraki-taicho... You've been on edge all week... What's up?" Kenpachi let out a grieving sigh, which was very unlike him.

"It's that female, Ryuuka. Ever since she got attacked, I've been worried about others of my squad." He looked at Toushiro, a weary expression in his eyes, "I'm beating myself up for this one slip up. It's never happened to someone like me before." Sighing again, he turned back to his squad members, who were enjoying themselves in the last bit of summer sun that they had left. Toushiro smiled in a sympathetic gesture and put his hand on Kenpachi's shoulder, to which Kenpachi turned back to him.

"It'll be alright, Zaraki-taicho. She's fine now and I'm sure that she's very grateful to you. Don't beat yourself up over something like that." He stood up and faced the Sougyouku. "You should be thankful that it was just one and not a million, or even a Menos. Those things are vicious," Toushiro turned back to Kenpachi and smiled broader, "Besides, you're worrying your squad. They seem to think that you are becoming soft, Zaraki-taicho. You don't want that, now do you?" Chuckling, Kenpachi grinned his usual grin and stood.

"You're right, Hitsugaiya-san. What would I do without your guidance in my old age?" To this, Toushiro laughed.

"So you're admitting that you're an old man? Come now, Zaraki-san, that's not like you at all." Suddenly, Ukitake appeared by shunpo and walked up to them, smiling. Kenpachi grinned at him as well.

"Alright, alright, enough about me. How is she doing?" Jushiro knew who he was talking about and smiled reassuringly.

"Ryuuka's fine, Zaraki-san. She says that her head is killing her, but other than that, she's functional."

"Good to hear." Kenpachi turned and walked along the edge of the roof, "I'll go see her myself." With that, he shunpoed off the roof and to the Fourth Division Hospital. He walked to Ryuuka's room, where Ryuuka was quietly sleeping. He then tiptoed to the side of her bed and sat next to her, watching her sleep and smiling gently.

Back on the rooftop, Ukitake and Toushiro sighed.

"He's not quite back to himself, is he, Hitsugaiya-san?" Ukitake asked him. The young captain shook his head.

"Definitely not. I think that woman has had some effect on him, though," he answered. He then stretched his arms and turned to his good companion, "Well, I best be off. See you around, Jushiro-san." With that, he shunpoed in the opposite direction of Kenpachi to his division, where a very drunk, very excited Matsumoto was waiting for him. Ukitake smiled and put a hand on his forehead.

"Things sure have gotten strange around here with Zaraki-san not acting like himself. I'll look into this 'Ryuuka' person." And so, off he went to his division for some research.

A few days later, Ryuuka was back on her feet, alive and well. Everyone in her division threw her a 'welcome back' party. Even Kenpachi attended, since he was the one who organized it. Ryuuka was thrilled. She had never thought that any of the members of her squad would be so considerate. Although Ikkaku didn't think it was necessary to throw a party, he, Yachiru, and Yumichika were some of the first to welcome her back, with Kenpachi being her escort home. As the party started to liven up, Ryuuka left to her room, which had been kept the same way as when she had left it. She smiled, set Ryuuzuto Hoshi down, and was about to sit down herself when Kenpachi on the spur of the moment walked in. Ryuuka noticed his reiatsu right away and turned immediately. To her surprise, Yachiru was also with him, who instantly ran and pulled Ryuuka into a choking bear-hug.

"Brownie-chan!!! I missed you so much!" she cried. Ryuuka smiled and chuckled at the young lieutenant's actions.

"I missed you too, Yachiru-chan. How have you been?" They then started a conversation of how things had been at the division while Ryuuka was gone. Kenpachi stood back, leaning on the door frame with his arms folded across his chest, and let the two chat like old friends. As watched them chatting away like birds on a telephone line, he closed his eyes thoughtfully and thought to himself, "I must be either really stupid, or I am attracted to this female, Ukitake." As if his thoughts were read, Ukitake appeared beside him, though the look on his face said anything but welcome back. Kenpachi saw this, turned back to see that Ryuuka and Yachiru were still busy talking, and went outside with Ukitake.

Once outside, Ukitake turned to Kenpachi.

"You are not going to believe what I found on Ryuuka." Kenpachi's expression turned from serious to worried once more.

"What is it?" he asked, a touch of concern in his voice. Ukitake had been worried this whole time, and for a good reason.

"Nothing... nothing at all on her....Ryuuka... She's not real." Kenpachi stared for a few seconds more, then burst out laughing. Ukitake shook his head. He knew that Kenpachi would do this, and he needed the proof to tell him.

"I'm serious, Zaraki-san. There's nothing about that girl in my data books." Kenpachi stopped laughing and looked at Ukitake.

"You expect me to believe that? Come on, where's the proof?" Ukitake looked away in anger. As of yet, all he had for evidence was the lack of a background for Ryuuka.

"I know it's hard to comprehend..."

"No, it's not. What you need is some hard evidence that says 'Shisona Ryuuka is a fake', in which you have none. I suggest you get some proof before you start making false accusations."

"Now just listen for a minute, Zaraki-san! I do have proof, or rather, lack of proof." Quickly, Jushiro pulled out his newly-invented Portable Research Device (or PRD, for short) and started flicking through some of the downloaded files. Kenpachi wasn't too pleased, but when they got to the S's, Shisona Ryuuka was nowhere to be found. Kenpachi looked at Jushiro, annoyed.

"What is this? Why isn't Shisona-san in there?" he asked, more that a little ticked off. Jushiro merely shook his head.

"She's not in there because she is not a real soul."

"That's a load of bull-"

"No, it's not, Zaraki-san,"Ukitake said impatiently, "She is chemically altered."

"And how do you know this, huh? Tell me, Oh, Most Wise One," Kenpachi exaggerated sarcastically. Ukitake was getting really annoyed with Kenpachi, but he knew that he had to keep his composure in front of him. So he continued, "Well, let me tell you, then, Oh, Most Annoying One. While Tosen, Aizen, and Gin were here, they all started working on a project called XX-576. It was supposed to be a secret operation, and Mayuri was helping them. However, the three found that he couldn't be trusted. They left the work behind, and Mayuri must have just improved on it over time." Kenpachi was listening, and though he was still denying it over and over in his head, he knew that Ukitake was right. Ukitake continued on, "She is a genetically-engineered modified soul. She was never real in the first place." This is where he stopped and looked at his long time friend.

Kenpachi was in shock. He couldn't believe such a thing was possible. Ukitake had just opened his eyes to the truth, but he still couldn't believe it in it's entirety. He turned to Ukitake.

"And, what was the hollow doing there?" Ukitake just shook his head.

"Just coincidence. She never has, nor will she ever, be a real shinigami. Even her zanpakuto is fake." Kenpachi turned away from his friend and stared out at nothing.

"That's why she wasn't able to defend herself..." The thought of Ryuuka being just another mod soul enraged him, so much that he took out his own zanpakuto and swung it at a nearby building. The structure collapsed at his feet almost instantaneously. Ukitake backed away quickly. He knew that when Kenpachi was furious, nothing could quell his anger. As Kenpachi grew more frustrated, he jumped onto the rooftops and shunpoed to the training grounds to blow off some steam. He himself knew that he was a threat to everyone around him, but he was also infuriated at the thought of Ryuuka, and was thinking more out of impulse than of careful planning. With that in mind, he leaped onto the training grounds and started swinging his powerful sword around in a furious frenzy.

Back at Eleventh Division, Ukitake was starting to regret ever bringing up the subject. He shook his head once more.

"Now you've done it, Jushiro ol' boy. You should have just kept this one to yourself... Ryuuka probably doesn't even know that she isn't real..." With that sad, but true thought in mind, Ukitake took his leave, leaving the party-goers unattended and having fun.

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Thanks for being patient, please review!


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